How to get started with a private Windows Store for Business

Windows Store for Business lets admins find suitable apps for their organization, acquire them in bulk and distribute them through their own private ‘storefront.’ This offers much-needed control, but its greatest benefit might be that your users won’t have to wade through thousands of apps to find what they need.

The Windows Store for Business is a counterpart to the consumer Windows Store so familiar to home users. That means you can find the same universal Windows Platform apps in both stores. One difference is that the Store for Business works only with devices running Windows 10 or Windows 10 Mobile, where the consumer Windows Store supports devices running Windows 8 and 8.1 as well.

Setting up a private store within the Store for Business gives your organization control over acquisition and distribution, and lets you publish your own line of business (LOB) apps for internal consumption. Thousands of apps are available through Store for Business, such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Power BI and Skype for Business, as well as third-party apps like DropBox and GoToMeeting. A private store is simply a "space" in the Store for Business that's populated with apps your organization chooses.

After an admin sets up a private store and adds at least one app, a link to the private store appears on the right side of the Store for Business menu; typically the link is simply the name of your organization. Users can then access the private store and install those apps. (Note that it actually takes about 12 hours for apps to appear after they've been added by an administrator, so don’t worry if something doesn’t show up immediately.)